Vote for the PSUGA Coach of the First Half

Jan 02, 2018

As the holiday break at PSUGA creeps towards an end, we have another fan vote as you the fans continue to vote for your favorite PSUGA Athletics moments from the first half of the 2017/2018 athletic year. This week, you can vote for the PSUGA Coach of the First Half by visiting us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram and casting your vote. The three coaches up for the award have all been instrumental in leading their teams to memorable moments in 2017 and have been leading our student athletes to success both on and off the court.

Dale Odim: (9-4, 8-3)

Dale Odim is in his first season at the helm of the PSUGA Soccer program and got his first year started off with a bang. He led his team to the best season in PSUGA soccer history setting new franchise records in both wins and conference wins while also leading his team to the #2 seed in the Penn State University Athletic Conference Playoffs. Marin Marina (Pittsburgh, Pa./Baldwin HS) and Belmo Nurkic (Pittsburgh, Pa./Baldwin HS) both had big seasons under Odim each scoring 11 goals and being named All-Conference award winners. Coach Odim said this season was one of his funnest as a soccer coach and he looks forward to many more successful seasons at PSUGA.

Alyssa Finnochi (8-13, 6-10)

After having a successful four-year playing career at PSUGA, Alyssa Finnochi took over as the head volleyball coach for the 2017/2018 year. It was an up and down season for the Volleyball team, but they were able to rally in the middle of the season to get them back into playoff contention. Finnochi's team started out just 2-8 through the first 10 games of the year, however, they would win six straight contests to get their record back to 6-6 needing three wins in their last five games to make the playoffs. Although they were not able to complete the playoff comeback, Finnochi and her team are young and look to continue growing on and off the court. Finnochi helped lead Laura Vazquez Diaz (Sao Paulo, Brazil/Cupey Maria Montessori) to another successful season leding the team in many offensive categories including kills, digs, and total attacks.

Tyler Care (8-4, 3-1)

After leading his team to a PSUAC championship a year ago, Tyler Care got the 2017/2018 season started off with a bang. His team won their first four games of the season for the first time in PSUGA Men's Basketball history and have already seen many program records and milestones reached. Jordon Payne (McKeesport, Pa./McKeesport), Khari Hicks (East Hills, Pa./Imani Christian Academy), and Curtis Newby (Sharon, Pa./Sharon HS) have all reached the 1,000 point mark in their collegiate careers while Hicks also broke the program career assist record earlier this season. Since joining PSUGA four years ago, Care has been the winningest coach in program history and is looking to defend his team's PSUAC title in 2018.

You can vote for your favorite PSUGA Coach by visiting our social media channels on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Voting goes up until Friday at 2 p.m. when the votes will be counted and the winner will be named.